This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
A thermoelectric module (TEM) is a relatively small solid state device that can operate as a heat pump or as an electrical power generator. When a thermoelectric module is used as a heat pump, the thermoelectric module utilizes the Peltier effect to move heat and may then be referred to as a thermoelectric cooler (TEC). When a thermoelectric module is used to generate electricity, the thermoelectric module may be referred to as a thermoelectric generator (TEG). The TEG may be electrically connected to a power storage circuit, such as a battery charger, etc. for storing electricity generated by the TEG.
With regard to use of a thermoelectric module as a TEC, and by way of general background, the Peltier effect refers to the transport of heat that occurs when electrical current passes through a thermoelectric material. Heat is either picked up where electrons enter the material and is deposited where electrons exit the material (as is the case in an N-type thermoelectric material), or heat is deposited where electrons enter the material and is picked up where electrons exit the material (as is the case in a P-type thermoelectric material). As an example, bismuth telluride may be used as a semiconductor material. A TEC is usually constructed by connecting alternating N-type and P-type elements of thermoelectric material (“elements”) electrically in series and mechanically fixing them between two circuit boards. The use of an alternating arrangement of N-type and P-type elements causes electricity to flow in one spatial direction in all N-type elements and in the opposite spatial direction in all P-type elements. As a result, when connected to a direct current power source, electrical current causes heat to move from one side of the TEC to the other (e.g., from one circuit board to the other circuit board, etc.). Naturally, this warms one side of the TEC and cools the other side. A typical application exposes the cooler side of the TEC to an object, substance, or environment to be cooled.
In making a thermoelectric module (e.g., a TEC, TEG, etc.), cubic, near-cubic, and sub cubic shaped N-type and P-type elements may be used. For proper operation, each of the N-type and P-type elements must be consistently oriented in one of two different orientations (of a possible six total different orientations). Thus, several wrong orientations for each of the N-type and P-type elements are possible. Orienting the N-type and P-type elements (especially the cubic and near-cubic elements) using traditional processes (e.g., grid or matrix orientation processes, etc.) can be difficult at achieving such proper orientations consistently, thus often requiring manual placement or reworking of the N-type and P-type elements.